The invention is directed to a loading apparatus for conveying supporting members or charging grates into heat treatment furnaces and includes one or more chain strands driven by chain sprockets and carrying the charge grate and running in guide rails, which chain strands are composed of individual chain links provided with rollers.
Heat treatment furnaces are provided with a high temperature zone and a loading table. In addition, there can also be cooling and quenching zones which always are separated from each other by doors.
There are known loading apparatuses for charging such heat treatment furnaces in which the charging grates are driven through the treatment zones of the furnace with chain strands extending or running in guide rails and driven by chain sprockets. The conveyance is carried out with the help of a cams and pawl mechanism on the chain strands which engage each charging grate.
A kind of loading apparatus for heat treatment furnaces is known from German AS 1279706 in which the chain strands are composed of individual chain links provided with sprocket drives and the conveyance of the charging grates is carried out with the help of cams. However, this apparatus has the disadvantage that the charging grates cannot be driven directly into the furnace but are set down outside the furnace and then must be dragged over steel rails and/or fire bricks which can considerably reduce the life of the grate member.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a loading apparatus for the conveyance of charging grates in heat treatment furnaces with one or more chain strands carrying the charging grates and being driven by chain sprockets and with guide rails provided for the chains strands, which chain strands are composed of chain links provided with rollers which deposit the charging grates directly at their destination and which grates can be removed again from the furnace.